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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The mystical GREEN layer

For the last couple of years, I have made a point of always including this weird, magical, mystical GREEN layer in almost every lasagna I have made.

It’s easy and turns any everyday lasagna into a gourmet treat!

So what’s in the green stuff?

A tub of ricotta cheese, some frozen spinach, an egg and salt. Okay, sometimes, if I’m not sick and miserable – like today – I use fresh spinach, wash it check it steam it. But today, it was frozen Bodek spinach, straight into the blender with the other stuff. Poke it around a bit if it doesn’t blend smoothly at first, and then it’s done.

The other trick with lasagna, which I didn’t do today, is the old “hiding-the-veggies-from-your-family-so-they-won’t-know-it’s-healthy” trick, only since my intention is not to HIDE the veggie but to combine it, it’s okay. Just roast a red pepper or two and then purée it with the tomato sauce.

Oh, also, in addition to one tin of pasta sauce, I blend in one tin of tomatoes. So the red layer is usually pasta sauce – tomatoes – red peppers. I omit the red peppers if my sister is coming over; she can’t stand them. Also when I don’t have any or if I’m sick… like today.

Sniffle.

Here’s how I assemble it: red layer, pasta layer (precooked; rarely oven-ready anymore, because it just doesn’t taste as good), green layer, sprinkle mozzarella, red layer. Repeat as many times as you have pasta and room in the pan. Finish with a pasta layer and then a red layer over the pasta. Wrap tightly, bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle top generously with mozzarella, and bake another 15 minutes uncovered. Serve and delish!

One final word of lasagna wisdom: if you notice halfway through the layers that you are running out of mozzarella cheese, stop! Save it! Nobody will notice if it’s a little skimpy in the middle… but everybody will complain if there’s none on top!